Poland sets out stall for Irish business

POLAND is enjoying record levels of direct foreign investment, according to PAIZ, the state agency with responsibility for attracting investors to Poland.

At a conference in Dublin yesterday, aimed at encouraging Irish entrepreneurs to invest in Poland, potential investors were told that it was a fastgrowing, stable economy with a budgetary deficit below the Maastricht criteria level and an increasing private sector.

Inflation was falling from 18 per cent in 1996 to an expected 12 per cent this year and to single digit levels by 2000, delegates were told. The domestic market was with a population of 40 million and Poland is a good location from which to serve the markets of the former Soviet Union republics.

Companies interested in investing in Poland are offered a catalogue of investment offers in both state owned and private enterprises covering all sectors of the economy. The Ministry of the Treasury has prepared information on enterprises which are to be privatised in the immediate future.

PAIZ project manager for the food processing sector, Mr Piotr Dabrowski, told delegates that the privatisation of that sector was well advanced with only 15 per cent of all food manufacturers remaining stateowned compared with 80 per cent in the 1980s. Foreign investment in the Polish food processing industry has reached $2.5 billion (£1.644 billion), with the largest sums invested in the tobacco and soft drinks sectors.

A large domestic market with good level of food consumption, costs of production below the European average with field crops costing up to 50 per cent less than in EU countries and moderate competition between manufacturers were among the advantages of investing in this sector in Poland, he said. Duties are levied on imported foodstuffs making it more profitable for investors to produce in Poland. Its location close to the former Soviet Union republics was another advantage, he said.

A recent PAIZ survey of Polish public opinion found that 75 per cent of Poles accept foreign direct investment. Some 28.2 per cent are strong supporters and only 3.5 per cent said they were against direct foreign investment. PAIZ said the latest outcome was a considerable change on survey results from the 1980s.

PAY promotes foreign investment in Poland and helps to explain changes in the structure of business law and the fiscal and infrastructural environment to potential investors. Because the economy was in the process of transformation from a state to a market economy, there were constant changes to bring legislation, tax and fiscal policy into line with EU norms.

The benefits of direct foreign investment in Poland could be seen in a better choice of products for consumers and better quality products, greatly improved distribution systems, better management methods, according to PAIZ.